


It Was Always You

by noctibaiko



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluffy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, brief mention of Jules Bianchi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 14:32:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4628844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noctibaiko/pseuds/noctibaiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some much-needed sunshine and a little cheering up for two something-more-than-friends that have had a rough summer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Was Always You

**Author's Note:**

> I had 'Secret Smile' by Supersonic & 'Seven Days in the Sun' by Feeder as two of my prompts and ended up with a bit of both in here. Title comes from a Maroon 5 song that popped up while I was writing that seemed -so- very much these two :) Also did I just write 2k about these dorks? Oh dear, I may have a problem ... XD
> 
> Song link w/lyrics: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubhkguhrYGg>

Jev had been surprised to say the least, when Dan had turned up on his doorstep during the break and just told him to pack a bag, they were going on a trip. He'd thought briefly about telling him to fuck off, but something about that confident attitude Dan had developed over the past year, plus his own curiosity had him packed and soon following the Aussie outside. He'd asked where they were going and just got a little half-smile and a reply of "It's a surprise." in return. A couple of hours and a plane ride later found them landed on Majorca, and he found himself surprised again as Dan drove them away from the newer glitz and tourist haven of Palma and away up into the hills to the northwest.

"Now will you tell me where we're going?" he knew he sounded a little petulant, but he still wasn't used to this newer, more confident Dan. The brunette man glanced over with a nod and answered, "Deià, it's this smallish place on the northwest coast, still some nice stuff up there, places to hike or cycle up in the hills, this cool rocky cove for swimming - but quieter, less touristy." 

"That ... actually sounds rather nice," he admitted with a small nod of approval.

"Just relax, yeah? I'll even spare you my 'ear-bleeding screech' music as you like to call it," Dan grinned back. Jev just snorted slightly with a tiny smile and turned his head back to the window to watch the Majorcan hills drift by.

***

He'd honestly expected Dan to be pushing at him more to cheer up these past few days, like other times in the past but the Aussie just seemed to be content to leave him to himself for the most part. Just a little prod at him to have some lunch or a snack, coaxing him into trying a cycle up into the hills yesterday, doing his own thing at other times but always being nearby somehow. Taking their time walking back up to the house after a dinner in the village, he stopped to lean on a railing, looking at the view toward the ocean and waited for Dan to inevitably lean alongside him before speaking.

"I know what you're trying to do."

"Cheer us both up?" he replied with a faint grin at the Frenchman's look of surprise before his expression became serious again.

"You're not the only one who needs it, mate. And, y'know," he hesitated, not wanting to say the name out loud, "You understand _why_ , and how it's not so easy to just pick up and move on from." Jev let his head fall forward briefly, the weight of the emotions of the past few weeks pressing down on him again.

" _Oui_ , I do," he said after a couple of moments. "I do not know that only a week can ease it away so simply, but ...," he trailed off and hesitantly reached out to lay his hand on top of Dan's and squeezed them together for a moment. " _Merci_." he said, looking up with a tiny, sad smile at him, receiving a similarly wan smile and squeeze in return.

"That's what I'm here for," the Aussie states simply, corners of his mouth turning up a fraction higher, an extra warmth in his eyes emphasizing his words.

***

Dan thinks at first it's the cool night breeze that's stirred him awake, but then the sound of soft sobs beside him registers in his mind. "Hey, hey c'mere," he says sleepily, sitting up slightly and rolling the unresisting Frenchman over to lean against his chest, head resting on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around Jev and just held him close, stroking his hair and trying to murmur some soothing words against his temple. Dan swallowed hard, trying not to think about the _why_ behind those tears, he knew they both hurt for Jules, he wanted to be strong for the other man, but he could feel his heart ache in painful empathy.

"I know, mate, I _know_ ," he tells him, voice cracking on the last word, both of their arms tightening around each other as his own held back tears start to fall. He's not sure how long they both stay close together like that before quieting down finally, feeling Jev relax into much-needed sleep against him. Dan can't help himself from stroking his fingers gently through the soft brown hair one last time, resting his cheek briefly against the top of his head before letting his own head rest back on the pillow, quickly following into sleep.

***

As they sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen the next morning, all the questions that had been swirling in Jev's head the past few days came to a point and he just needed an answer. He sighed as he set his coffee cup down and fixed the Australian with a slightly weary and serious look.

"What are we doing, Daniel?" he asked, voice still rough from the night before. Dan could only make an puzzled noise mid-sip from behind his own cup before Jev continued. "We can't have things like we were before, _everything_ is different now. _We_ are different now," he emphasized the last words by gesturing between them.

"I know that," Dan replied with a calm voice, gaze steady to match the other man. "We've grown up, things haven't gone quite the way we might've dreamed, in good and bad ways, but," he pauses and that particular little smile Jev's caught from him a few times on this trip lights his face again. "I feel like we still have some good things left between us to build something new on, yeah?," he finishes, voice as soft as his expression.

Jev's mind and heart are racing as what he's asking sinks in, and as much as the logical, cynical part of his mind wants to list all the reasons they shouldn't, _couldn't_ , a warmth he hasn't let himself feel in so long starts to wrap around his heart again and spread throughout him. He slides his hand forward and gently threads his fingers through Dan's on the counter, his own gentle smile spreading on his face, as he leans in close to whisper "I think maybe you are right," before closing the gap between them in a tender kiss. He feels Dan's fingers squeeze his tightly for a moment before letting go to pull him from his stool and wrap him in a close embrace, resting their foreheads against each other for a moment with a whispered 'thank you' before pressing their lips together again gently but fervently. And the same thought he'd had this morning when he woke in the Aussie's arms, about how much it felt like warmth and sunlight and home, goes through his head again and isn't so terrifying anymore, it feels like the universe is coming back into balance again finally.

***

After a trip down to the rocky coves nearby for a swim, and a good bit of splashing and playing around like a couple of kids, they'd come back for a hearty lunch. Afterwards, they'd ended up just spending the afternoon lazing about and soaking up sun on the terrace as they talked much like they used to, randomly hopping along a variety of topics but inevitably coming back around to racing.

"Ah, you'll be racing again soon enough," Dan reassured him. "They're all idiots not to have taken you on yet!"

"I _might_ get that seat, but I might _not_ just as easily," Jev shrugged back at him. "Money, sponsors, connections, you know this game," he added, with a little derisory wave of the hand at said 'game'. Dan just gives him one of those broad grins of his and replies, "So I'll just have to come be your cheerleader when the schedules let me, if not," earning him an amused took from over the top of Jev's sunglasses. "You're going to come be my 'grid guy'?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure, why not?," he shrugs nonchalantly. "I'll even hold your umbrella!", he grins even broader, and Jev can't help but laugh at that. "Much rather be racing you," Dan continues, "Maybe not in the same team, though."

"Why not in the same team?" he asks, slightly confused. "Lewis and Nico, mate - they used to be close, were so happy at each other's first podium, and now after that championship run?" Dan shakes his head sadly at the thought of the two once-friends and Jev finds himself nodding thoughtfully in agreement.

"Mm. We too, would both want the championship, provided the right cars, but ... not at that price, perhaps?"

"Exactly." Dan is quiet for a moment of thought, then huffs a little laugh. "Maybe more like Mark and Fernando, yeah?"

"Always on separate teams, but constantly racing each other to the limit?" Jev finds himself smiling quite warmly at the thought of he and Dan racing each other hard and fair again, like the two other drivers had.

"Hell yeah!" Dan agreed with a grin. "Just like those two up Eau Rouge that time!" he added, illustrating the move with his hands as he spoke, the other man smiling slightly wider at his enthusiasm. They both sat there thinking the idea over for a moment before he looks back at Jev again and tells him with that soft smile and voice, "And, y'know, if it wasn't _me_ winning it all, I'd rather it be _you_."

He feels that little squeeze around his heart again and can't help but pull the Aussie closer and into a soft, lingering kiss, pulling back just enough to whisper, "That goes for both of us, _mon amour_ ," adoring the way Dan's eyes flutter shut at the last two words.

"Are you blushing now, _Daniel_?" he draws out the name teasingly. Dan laughs brightly, pulling him closer with one arm, telling him, "Well you had go and be all sexy and French again, I mean what's a man to do?", he sighs exaggeratedly, resting a hand against his forehead in a parody of a swoon.

"Swooning is appropriate, yes. You may continue," he smirks at him, earning him a thwack to the shoulder.

"Shut up."

"Make me."

He's not quite prepared for how the little smirk Dan gets sends that familiar heat to stir low in his belly, or how quickly the man moves to flip them both and pin him down. And soon enough, between the attentions of the Aussie's hands and mouth, he's not thinking of much except about how quickly he's falling into pleasure, and that this newer Dan might be a very, _very_ good thing to be happening to him.

***

Ramping himself back into work mode first for FormulaE testing, then back to Italy for Ferrari had been much easier a change than he'd have thought before that week in Majorca, but as Jev made his way along the paddock under surprisingly sunny Belgian skies he idly wondered if somehow they'd brought the sun with them. Lost back in thought about his own chances for next year, he didn't notice the first bump to his arm, but couldn't miss the second one that was accompanied by an "Oi, what're you daydreaming about?"

He turned with a little half-smile on his lips, perching his sunglasses on his head as he told him, "I'm scheming and plotting your downfall, Ricciardo," giving him a mock evil grin and raise of the eyebrow. Dan holds a hand to his face and gasps in pretend horror, "You would never!" He can't help himself from laughing at the exaggerated face and replies, "Ah, you are right, I would never," not being able to keep the fondness out of the smile on his face.

"Whew!" the Aussie grins back at him broadly for a moment, then makes a face as he can see a Red Bull PR person waving him over from up ahead. "Just my luck," he mutters and turns to back to the Frenchman. "Before I get dragged in to the media pit of the same ten questions, can I steal you away from the red garage later?" he asks hopefully.

"You can steal me away anytime you like," he tells him with one of his little half-smiles. He sees that softer version, what he's come to realize is _his_ special version of Dan's trademark smile, lighten the other man's face briefly before returning to it's normal cheeriness. "Awesome," he replies, thumping Jev's shoulder, his hand lingering just an extra bit longer there before he jogged off towards the Energy Station.

Slipping his sunglasses back down into place, he continued his way down the paddock, thinking that even if the future was still uncertain, he had one source of sunshine he could count on, regardless of the actual weather. He found himself humming a fragment of the song they'd heard on the way back from Deià, _'Now I know why my heart wasn't satisfied/It was always you'_.


End file.
